Thursday, February 28, 2019

Launched in May 2017, PHILOSOPHY WITHOUT BORDERS, aka PWB, is an online mega-project for creating and sharing EIGHT different kinds of original philosophy, all of them freely available to anyone, anywhere, world-wide.

We’re reaching out to academic philosophers and independent philosophers, and to other critically thoughtful, insightful, reflective people, everywhere.

Have you registered for the 2019 Pacific Division meeting, April 17–20 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada? If not, take a moment to register online now!

In addition to colloquium and symposium sessions, this year’s meeting features a robust program complete with sessions sponsored by APA committees and affiliated groups. Highlights include the following sessions:

APA Department Chair’s Network: Joan McGregor (Arizona State University) and Janet Stemwedel (San José State University) will lead a discussion on “Innovation in the Philosophy Major,” Friday, April 19, 9:00 a.m.–Noon

Early bird registration rates ($125 for APA members, $240 for non-members, and $40 for student members) are available until online registration closes on April 3. Pacific meeting registration will not be available April 4 through April 16. If you don’t register online by April 3, you can still register on-site at the meeting—but note that on-site registration rates are $50 higher than early bird registration for all categories.

Please note: You’ll save an additional $5 on meeting registration if you opt not to receive a paper copy of the program. The meeting program is available online, and our free meeting app for smartphones and tablets also contains the full program. Session locations will be added to the app on the first day of the meeting.

Haven’t yet renewed your membership? Renew now! In order to receive the discounted meeting rate available to APA members, your membership must be current. (Lapsed members who have not renewed their memberships for the 2018–2019 year pay the non-member rate of $240 in advance or $290 at the meeting.)

Saturday, February 23, 2019

This week we joined our partners, Detainee Allies, and stood in solidarity with immigrants. We asked Attorney General Becerra about investigating forced labor at the Otay Mesa immigration detention center operated by for-profit prison company CoreCivic.

Detainee Allies has collected dozens of letters from detainees, documenting stories of forced labor, and contaminated food, and medical neglect.[1]

Jamal* and Maria* ended up in Otay Mesa, having fled their home countries for their own safety. Maria used social media to report on the military in Cameroon. She was eventually forced to leave to avoid persecution, only to be detained in the US. She has remained in detention since 2016.

Jamal just wanted to live a life free from slavery and exploitation. He left Eritrea to escape military conscription and possible forced labor, only to be subjected to forced labor in the US. Now, Jamal is terrified of returning home and inhumane conditions in the detention center are crushing all hopes for a better life:

“Eritrean Government & Military they will send me to prison, how long they will arrest me I don’t know, then they will ask me about my mother, then they will hurt me. After that they will send me to military service. Then they will teach me how to be a killer & how to use a gun...Then at last they will kill me.”

Detainees are easy to coerce. Maria wanted to refuse to work for$1 a day. If she did, she would be left without meager funds to pay for necessary phone calls to loved ones and adequate food from the commissary. Sometimes, detainees are not paid at all.

Detainee Allies received reports of the poor conditions in the center:

"All of us detainees work in the janitorial department, yet we never receive our $1/day salary. They just make us do the cleaning.”

“Sometimes they give us rotten food. They treat us as if we were criminals, and yet our only crime is to flee from our home countries because of the crime and lack of safety there."

California’s Attorney General has committed to investigating abuses at Otay Mesa, but we need to keep up the pressure to end forced labor across all CoreCivic prisons across the United States.Can you help by adding your name?

Many of the detained migrants are asylum seekers, abused while they await their immigration hearings.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

HERE IS AN ARTICLE I WROTE SHORTLY AFTER THE 2016 ELECTION. (BEFORE I HAD ANALYZED THE RETURNS, AND REALIZED THE FRAUDULENT VOTE COUNTS THAT GAVE DONALD TRUMP THE WHITE HOUSE.) HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED?

Referring to President Elect Trump, Barack Obama thinks we should balancewhat he said during the campaign, with what he does as President. That's what Iwould expect a Lawyer to say, not a World Leader. Then again, he might say acouple of nice things about you. He Trashed you enough during the election,and you wouldn't want to upset him further.See, I was under the Impression that a departing President, after seeing anUnprincipled Hate Monger win the most powerful elected office in the world,using TACTICS PRAISED BY THE KKK AND THE AMERICAN NAZI PARTY,would tell his supporters to use all legal means to make sure he fails. This wouldencourage Americans to avoid such DEMAGOGUES, WHO ENCOURAGEVIOLENCE AND HATE AS A VIABLE STRATEGY TO WIN AN ELECTION.Now pay attention. When I say see him fail as President, IT MEANS THAT HISGOALS AND REASONS FOR RUNNING HAVE BEEN DEFEATED, AND THEVISION HE HAD FOR THE U.S. DID NOT COME ABOUT. That may mean nocompromises, and ignoring all attempts at working together. BUT...Some Democratic Members of Congress think we should help heal the Division in thisCountry, as President Elect Trump proposes. (The fact he caused the Division is ignored).Why not, shouldn't we follow the shining example set by the Republican Congress over thelast eight years? I mean they have a policy of Blocking any Legislation that would actuallyhelp the Average American, like a LIVING WAGE AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE.I'M SURE THEY WILL BE MUCH MORE REASONABLE NOW.

The Southern Poverty Law Center thinks President Elect Trump should denounceracism and violence, done in his name. (I would think that is something that youwouldn't have to ask.) He will probably do it, after all he and his cronies have theWhite House, so he can condescend to throw a few scraps to his opponents. Thenthe Law Center can announce the VICTORY OVER INTOLERANCE, ANDPRESIDENT TRUMP IS NOT AS BAD AS WE THOUGHT.You have to say one thing about Donald Trump: HE PROMOTES ANGER, HATRED,PREJUDICE AND THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE TO GET ELECTED, AND STILLHE HAS THE OPPOSITION ABANDONING THEIR INTEGRITY AND DIGNITYTO SAY CONSOLING THINGS ABOUT HIM.WOW!!

Online registration for the Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association is open. The 2019 meeting will take place April 17–20 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Register now to take advantage of the early bird registration rates: $125 for APA members, $240 for non-members, and $40 for student members. Online registration will close April 3. Pacific meeting registration will not be available April 4 through April 16. You will be able to register on-site at the meeting; however, on-site registration rates will be $50 higher than early bird registration for all categories.

Please note: You’ll save an additional $5 on meeting registration if you opt not to receive a paper copy of the program. The meeting program is available online, and our free meeting app for smartphones and tablets will also contain the full program.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Launched in May 2017, PHILOSOPHY WITHOUT BORDERS, aka PWB, is an online mega-project for creating and sharing EIGHT different kinds of original philosophy, all of them freely available to anyone, anywhere, world-wide.

We’re reaching out to academic philosophers and independent philosophers, and to other critically thoughtful, insightful, reflective people, everywhere.